Vitter pushing ban on subsidies

A testy debate over whether lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff should receive federal subsidies for their health insurance under Obamacare is coming right back to the Senate.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) plans to file an amendment to House-passed spending bill now under consideration by the Senate that would that require lawmakers, the president and administration appointees no longer receive those subsidies.

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Vitter’s insistence on a vote on that same amendment to an unrelated, bipartisan energy efficiency bill effectively ground the Senate to a halt for more than a week, resulting in the bill being shelved as Washington’s focus shifted to preventing an Oct. 1 government shutdown.

Vitter’s plans were detailed in an email — obtained by POLITICO — sent from Vitter’s staff to fellow GOP staffers and closely mimics a similar plan in the House. If the Senate strips out a provision that defunds Obamacare in the spending bill and sends it back to the House, Republicans in the lower chamber may send back a spending bill that kills the subsidies for Capitol Hill staffers and lawmakers, raising the shutdown stakes even further.

Vitter will likely be able to file his amendment as early as Thursday although it likely won’t receive a vote, according to a Democratic leadership aide. But it will again be a focal point of the Senate’s running debate over Obamacare.